Malik Ishtar - Blog Posts
If Malik was in YGO ss0, he would be that mysterious friend who has a hidden identity.
contextless doodles from the fic i want to write lmao
bonding with your boyfriend by playing scary video games!
your evil spirit tenant and his persecution complex? not necessarily.
I'll always maintain that this is the best duel in the series (manga or anime). Why? TLDR: narrative/trope subversion (and he is a MASSIVE bitch)
In a format where conclusions tend to be forgone it managed actual suspense. Practically no one, in-universe or out, expected Joey/Jou to win. Sure, his True Friends TM are rooting for him, but this is clearly a mismatch. Marik(extra spicy edition) is at this point undefeated and Joey won his last two tournament duels on technicalities, punching above his weight class via sheer grit.
As the audience, we KNOW he can't win. Joey is the Lancer; narratively it would make no sense for him to beat what is clearly a final arc boss. The Lancer is here to put up enough of a fight to make the Hero, Yugi, look extra cool when he beats Marik later.
We all know it's just supposed to be Joey putting up a good fight, but damn, what a fight! Stakes much more visceral than usual, turnabout after turnabout as the tides shift and we wonder if this is the one that ends the duel. All the while we get to see the snark on full and glorious display against an opponent outraged to even have to dirty his hands against someone other than the protagonist.
The big, properly climactic finishing shot…and then the reveal that Joey’s still standing. He’s won. Against all odds, and with strategy instead of luck. Everyone can see it. Even the thus-far unflappable Marik is reeling, because that was not supposed to happen. This narratively-doomed punching bag that spent the whole duel irreverently heckling was not supposed to be able to back it up.
And THEN Joey falls. He gets to have his victory and fill his role in the plot, all without undermining Marik’s threat. If anything, it makes the Bad Guy even more despicable and intimidating, since he’s clearly willing to cheat with magic murder powers if the cards don’t fall his way. Joey has all the best personal motivation, and free rein to be much more of a bitch than either protagonist (stoic and sweetheart as they are). We want him to win, we know that’s not what’s best for the story, and we get to have our cake and eat it too. With a LARGE side of ham
big fan of how much of a bitch he is
I dunno what they’re arguing about but Isis is probably right
Not the owner and I love the art style
this particular exchange between them from the manga is so awesome to me so i wanted to redraw it...